Topic: British Window Glass to British Columbia - 1862 - 1885

[Willow]

The writer is an elderly (67) Masters Candidate in History at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, BC, “BC’s Northern Capital”. 
For my Masters thesis, I chose to write on “The Windows of Barkerville”.  The Cariboo region was the site of a large gold rush in 1858 that led directly to British Columbia becoming a Crown Colony.  The town of Barkerville was founded in 1862, a rough and ready place in the middle of the wilderness, over 700 kilometers north of present day Vancouver (Vancouver did not then exist).
Yet, in this remote location, residents wanted to emulate the conditions they had known before moving.  The town had a theater, many stores, residences, and other facilities.  With winter often having temperatures in the -40 range and many feet of snow, life was a matter of survival.
Initially, as with many pioneer towns, oiled parchment made from animal skin provided covering for the windows, along with shutters.  Soon, however, there arose a need for glass windows.
In 1862, no glass was made on the west coast of North America.  Window glass was produced in Europe, especially Great Britain, and the eastern United States.
I AM LOOKING FOR ANY INFORMATION, ESPECIALLY INVOICES, BILLS OF LADING, SHIP CARGO MANIFESTS, CORRESPONDENCE, AND ANY AND ALL MATERIAL RELATIVE TO THE SALE OF WINDOW GLASS FROM BRITISH (OR AMERICAN) GLASS HOUSES TO MERCHANTS ON THE WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICAN, AND ESPECIALLY IN VICTORIA OR NEW WESTMINSTER. 
I have found “old glass”, cylinder glass, in five buildings in Barkerville.  As the town is built on tailings from mining, the town settles, which in turn means most of the original glass has now been replaced with modern glass.  Still, some still exists…
Many thanks for any information, documents, or even leads!

[Carolyn Preston]

Oh Willow, pleased don't tell me 67 is elderly, or else my husband is and that is just tooooooo scary. What a fascinating thesis project. I'm assuming you've hit the British Columbia archives and the Barkerville history gang (not sure just who runs the place, is it the BC government?) for whatever they have in their archives.

Best of luck from a fellow Canadian (Calgary)!

[Frank]

Cannot help on paperwork but an booklet c1890 from Red Star Glass-Works (digitised in glass-study.com) Société Anonyme des Verreries de l'Étoile [incorporated name from 1884]
à Marchienne-Au-Pont (Belgique) that started up in 1852 in Belgium lists the following as shipping destinations for Canada.


Canada

VANCOUVER
HALIFAX
VICTORIA
HAMILTON
QUÉBEC
TORONTO

[David E]

Welcome to the GMB.

There are resources for many US newspapers (not sure about Canadian) that list archived material. Sadly, these are normally a pay service so could prove a little expensive in subscriptions, but they may give some hints and perhaps, if you're lucky, the odd advert. I have before found adverts in Australian newspapers (free access) listing Chance window glass.

With regard to specific British companies, then either Chance Brothers or Pilkington Brothers are the most obvious, with Chance edging it, as the larger company, until the 1880s. Hartleys is an outside possibility. If I do come across any material in the Sandwell archives when I resume my research I will of course let you know. You could also try contacting Sandwell archives in relation to Chance Brothers:
http://www.sandwell.gov.uk/info/200253/archives_local_and_family_history/595/our_collections/4

Contact: archives_service [at] sandwell [dot] gov [dot] uk

(Just remove the [at] replace with @ and close spaces. Likewise with the [dot])

I hope this helps and good luck with your research!

EDIT: You mention "cylinder glass" which I believe would be more commonly known as sheet glass. This was produced by blowing cylinders, splitting them lengthways, then flattening to create flat glass.